FOND DU LAC - While police shootings continue to spark nationwide controversy, Fond du Lac police officers did not fire a single shot at another person in 2016.

And they haven't in the past five years, according to the department's 2016 use of force report.

They did have cause to hold someone at gunpoint 33 times, but firearms were only discharged twice, and that was to dispose of wounded animals, said Police Chief Bill Lamb.

“We include pointing a firearm at a human being in our report due to how intrusive it is and the propensity for harm,” he said.

The lack of shots fired reflects the heightened training officers receive, especially in defensive tactics, Lamb said. With the intensified scrutiny of all actions of law enforcement, how officers respond to tense situations is highly regulated and reviewed.

“Much of the narrative we are hearing out there doesn’t reflect the reality of what’s really happening in communities,” Lamb said. “There are 800,000 cops (in the U.S.) out there making split-second decisions, every day, under extreme stress.”

In fact, he said, in part because people are more aware of what's going on around them, Fond du Lac's property crime rate is at a nine-year low, and forcible rapes, burglaries and stolen cars are at a five-year low, he said.

There has not been a homicide in the city in more than two years.

These figures fly in the face of comments made on locally run Facebook pages known for posting the city's police incidents, sometimes in real time. Some citizens comment that crime is on the rise in Fond du Lac, or suggest the city is becoming the "new Milwaukee” where crime rates are concerned.

“It’s a challenging time for officers and if we are using real life experiences to focus on, I can take this information from our reports, look people in the eye, and show them our crime rate has not been increasing,” Lamb said.

Out of 12 robberies that occurred in the city last year, eight of them were drug-related, Lamb said, occurring between people who knew each other.

Domestic violence and assaults continue to be the leading cause of crime in the city. The majority of these are not random acts of streets violence, Lamb pointed out.

"It's violence happening inside people’s homes,” he said.

The Fond du Lac Police Department's use-of-force incidents remained at 78 last year, the same number as in 2015. These types of incidents include employing the use of a taser, pepper spray, incapacitating techniques (compliance holds), passive and active countermeasures, dog bites and impact weapons.

Out of the 61,874 calls made for police service, 11,135 incidents involved reportable events or arrest citations. Use of force incidents comprised 0.18 percent of police calls.

A taser was deployed nine times in 2016, compared to 14 times in 2015, the report stated. A police dog was released twice to aid in incidents. Pepper spray and impact weapons were not used in any situation.

The five-year high for firearms drawn was 66 times, in 2013, and 2016 saw only half that number.

Every use of force incident requires a review by the department, for compliance with local, state and federal laws, as well as best practices established by law enforcement, said Steve Thiry, assistant chief of administration.

Thiry said during his time with the department, he does not recall an incident where use of force by a police officer was found to be unjustified.

“I’ve been a cop for a long time and when things become volatile, they are happening so fast we need to be sure all our officers are well-trained," he said. "There has been tremendous emphasis on tactics taught for hands-on compliance."

Officers first intervene by using dialogue, and if that doesn't work, they follow with a hand on the arm, then a compression of the hand, bent down, with the arm brought to the shoulder. The next move,Thiry said, if all else fails, is putting the suspect to the ground to get them calm and stabilized.

Active counter measures, like the use of a taser, are implemented in situations where a suspect is fighting an officer. Officers watch closely for signs of mounting resistance, Thiry said, like tightened muscles and clenched teeth.

“When it becomes a safety concern for the officers and the public, then we employ active counter measures,” he said. “Before that, we look at every other option available.”

Lamb also credits the department’s community outreach and district-wide policing initiative as relationship builders. The visibility of officers in uniform, ongoing dialogue with citizens and treating everyone they meet with respect, goes a long way.

“The public has given us tremendous authority to protect their safety. We take that very seriously,” the chief said.